Sunday, November 2

Fwinter

So as Rollo is running around like a crazy person in the snow, and then stopping to sniff each of his footprints on the way back across the yard, I'm thinking, 'cute, he must not remember the snow'. Then I think, holy crap, we've only had this dog 7 months, and there was snow for at least a month after we got him. That's like, 6 months without snow. 
That is not enough time without snow. 
Unless you live in Antarctica. 
I do not. 
Lame. 

C'est l'halloween (hey!)


Had a lovely, fairly quiet evening. The girl child went as a zombie (I score points for her not insisting on being a princess, right?) and the boy was an old man, in a super creepy mask. 


We had fewer than 100 kids, and it had petered out by about 7:45. I was thinking that Friday would be busy, but I assume a lot of the bigger kids (and some of the smallish ones) went to parties and stuff rather than trick or treating. End result is a huge bowl of candy leftovers, that I will eat more of than I want to. 

November is coming in with a bang - we've had a snowfall warning all weekend that kept getting pushed back, but now it's here. Messy freezing rain and snow mix. Hoping that it stops soon and they get it cleared up, or that it goes all night and the busses can stay off the roads. 

Friends and my sister came over last night, and we had a few beverages and played Cards Against Humanity.  On the box, it says "a party game for horrible people". It really is. But it's also incredibly fun. We will be looking to play it again sometime soon. 


Thursday, October 16

Teacher win

That moment when your super chatty bunch quiets down, however gradually, and then the bell rings, and they don't move because they're listening to you so intently. 

Tuesday, October 14

Birthday supper

Out for my dear sister's bday celebration. For the first time in my life, I'm early, and nobody else is here yet.  This will be a relaxing change from yesterday's family photo fiasco. Honestly. There were tears and screaming and sitting in the middle if the path refusing to move and ABSOLUTELY I WILL NOT HOLD HIS HAND and so on. But the setting and the subjects were beautiful, so despite their best efforts at sabotage, I got my pictures.  
Jerks.  I'm going to make a couple of collages and actually print them off, and I'll be good with my dear mother-in-law again. She's not so much a fan of the digital pictures as the real deal hang on the wall ones. 

Friday, October 10

Running in the rain

I think it's a bad sign when you head out for a run (even a run for a good cause) and you are already so wet and chilled that you're thankful for your thighs rubbing together because they're creating some warmth. 
Did not set any time record that day, my friends. Or PB, as they say in the biz. 

All my scheduling woes have settled, I've made a good one. People are relatively happy, there's a bit of tension between some of the teachers and EAs, but basically these ladies (and gentleman) make the teachers' jobs possible, so they'll manage. We do have a job that nobody wants,which is challenging, but there are basically no casual / supply EAs, so people can afford to be choosy. 
Onward. 

We went to see Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day. It was great, as expected. The fake butter at Cineplex is gross. Kind of like salty water. And they've changed (mostly) over to their own brand of seasoning. Assholes. W was hoping the popcorn would knock out her super loose tooth, but so far no luck. 


Turkey weekend! I'm making pie so that I can justify maple whipped cream. We're staying put rather than heading to Hali because the boychick has comp hockey tryouts all. weekend. Outlaws will be up for turkey on Sunday. I'm hoping to get some family pics done too.  


Monday, October 6

Losing sleep

So I have redone the EA schedule for the 754th time. I am so worried about hurting people 's feelings that I am lying awake trying to think if I can change anything else for the better. Sigh. 

Thursday, September 25

Fantastic children

My dear boy ran 5K in 27 minutes.  TWENTY SEVEN.  That's way faster than most of the moms who ran it, and only a couple of minutes longer than some of my middle schoolers who ran 3K.  He's doing cross country every Wednesday, and last week came in 12th overall, and this week came in 9th.  Atta boy.
The day before, they both ran a 1K "fun run".  Willow got a cramp and was super unimpressed that Grant wasn't running with her.  They both got medals, so I think everyone came out ok.
Today I went to pick Willow up at her friend's house, and she was telling me about the walk that they're doing tomorrow at school for Teriyaki.  I was like, Teriyaki is all the way up at the mall, they can't be walking that far.  But she was adamant, so I thought maybe Teriyaki was delivering?  I know they did something like that with Booster Juice last year.  Then she continues to explain, "he lost his leg, you know", and I have to put my hand on her head and turn away because I'm laughing so hard (silently) and also I can't even think what to say to her because I have realized that she is actually talking about Terry Fox.  They're doing the Terry Fox walk tomorrow.
I love that my kids are awesome, and entertaining.

Friday, September 19

Swinter

So I have mostly recovered from this morning's shockingly sock-and-ice-scraper-inducing weather.  It turned into an absolutely beautiful (October) day.  I have definitely mostly succumbed to a cold, which is annoying as all get-out, but not surprising given how I spend my days.  I got a few good bits of news at work (assistive tech arrived, and mostly works, we should be able to get an excellent communication program for my newest, very special student, and we are getting not one, but [basically] TWO additional EAs [one to come with a soon-to-be-returning student], and have the new schedule almost hammered out (no small feat, I promise you).  Tonight's plans include lying on the couch and drinking tea and neocitran.  In sweats, obviously.
The thing I'm most looking forward to though, is climbing into bed at a reasonable hour and snuggling up under the comforting weight of the now seasonally appropriate quilt+comforter combo.  The comforter is in the dryer as we speak, as it had a mild case of the "has been sitting in a pile in the basement all summer"s.   Extra laundry: worth it in this one case.

Woah.

So this morning I have to wear socks and  use and ice scraper on the car. hello fall. I mean hello late summer. Jerk.  I did manage to scrape I love you and my husband's windshield though, so that's fun!

Thursday, September 18

Fall with dog

Went for a walk with Rollo today. He was so excited to be out, all the new smells. He couldn't even walk in a straight line - he'd sniff along the ground back and forth and then his head would go straight up to catch a whiff of something blowing past. I told him fall will likely be his favourite season. It is mine. 

Monday, September 15

Super adorbs new babycousin

Right??
Kelly Belly and Jason were here for a family visit. It was also John's 70th (!) birthday. Smith made his grand entrance on May 22nd, so he joins the league of spring babies.  

Sunday, September 14

Blues-ing it up

Went to see the Perpetrators and Ross Neilson.  Good shows!  The Perpetrators sang a fun song about getting robbed, and having to tell the guy he spent all his money on smokes and chicken.  Started the evening out with friends and munchies and drinks, and finished it off with chicken shawarma (when they say garlic sauce, they mean it!)

Now to start planning my birthday extranaganza!

Friday, September 12

Look at me, still awake!

And in honourable tradition (although TV Guide has much simplified things by making an actual calendar, saving me to process of copy / pasting things, but also making it almost impossible to showcase my favourites...), the season premieres!

September



October


Facebook Privacy Dinosaur

I don't even really know what dinosaurs have to do with Facebook, but apparently they thought that was a good match.

In other news, it's Friday, thank GOD.  I'm really loving my job, but holy heck I'm tired.  Like, falling asleep in the chair in the waiting room at the dentist at 2:30 in the afternoon, tired.  No cavities though.  I'm learning a ton - about proprioception and brushing and joint compressions and heavy work and play therapy and zones of regulation and therabands and sign language.  The differences between OT and PT and what they and SLP (through the ESS and in keeping with the SIP and the DIP) can do for our kids.  And what they can't.  Even when they really want to.

It's Harvest time.  Hubs and a couple of his man-friends have gone to see the shows tonight.  I mainly want to go to bed, but there's supposed to be some wicked Northern Lights action around midnight.  Rollo and I will do our best to stay awake.  The kids are long snoozin. Maybe some sweet paranormal vampire romance novel action will pass the time.  I had to dig out my furry Merrils to take the dog out tonight, so my hopes for one more last gasp Indian Summer type deal are pretty much dashed.  

In 2 weeks, I'll be 35.  I'm fine with that, obviously, but at the same time I kind of feel like it's significant.  It rounds up, right?  I'd like to do something, but I don't know the first thing about planning any kind of event beyond ... like supper at Papa John's, so that's fairly limiting.  Thoughts?

Thursday, September 11

on love and loss

that sounds super dramatic hey?  I was using this great app, Day One, to do a #365grateful daily thing.  I had one for all but probably 10 days since January 1st, and then I restored my phone, and that did not restore, and it is lost, and I am just...indcredibly disappointed.  Should I have backed it up somewhere other than iCloud?  Apparently.  Live and learn.  Life lessons don't really help get shit back though, right?
Anyway.  I have gotten back into the groove of (almost) daily posting, so I'm thinking this is a better, more secure way to do things.  I can't believe it's been 3 years, and really 5, since I was posting.  That's just silly.  The kids are enormous now, 9 and 6.  We have a dog!  Rollo!  Who is also enormous, at almost 8 months of mostly-black German Shepherd Beast Dog.
I'm still at the same school, and have gotten back to Resource.  I'm really excited about the move, but MAN it is busy.  Schedules and emergency response, but when things settle in I'll be helping all over, co-planning and teaching in classes, working with groups of kids, advocating for kids to get the services they need from the district and the province.  Pretty cool.  That said, I have work to do, so this'll have to suffice for my grand re-opening post.

Thursday, May 19

really should start documenting stuff again

Somehow, it is May 2011. There are 5 weeks left of school, my sweet boy is 6 and finishing kindergarten, and is so smart and fantastic that he's surpassing all of my mom and teacher hopes, my little girl is 3 and batshit crazy about 15% of the time, but SO GD WONDERFUL the other 85% that it's totally worth it. I've been married almost 5 years, my sister has an almost-2 year old who's gorgeous and delightful, and I've learned, only because I had to, that I can actually manage to work full time and care for small people by myself, if only for a few days at a time.

What else. My kitchen appliances selection has much improved. We are now rocking a Keurig and a popcorn maker, both of which are awesome.

My kids say and do supercute things, and I've been mostly making note of them on Facebook, but as much as I love the old FB, I also really hate it, so I'd like to get away from relying on it. I can post and host my own stuff, bitches.

This is too overwhelming to do a good post, so I'll close with my 2 favourite things that they tiny ones have done lately.

Kieran, on Mother's Day, unprompted, chose Robert Munsch's "Guess How Much I Love You" for his bedtime story. I cried, but not embarrassingly much. He's great.

Willow, out of the blue in the car the other day says, "mama, when I am a grownup and you are a baby, I will pick you up and carry you around. and I will make myself coffee and drink it all up in my tummy."

Tuesday, January 26

so, again

it's been a really long time. lots going on, but no time to sit down and report it all. also I got an iPod touch for Christmas, so most of my free time is dedicated to downloading apps and playing Bejeweled. Sorry.
Kids are lovely, house is good, the man and I are still on speaking terms. No big emergencies or excitements in the last little while, although the boy did fall and smash his face on the deck at the in-laws' place last weekend, and man did it swell! It settled down into a disgusting bruise that made him look very much like he had been in a bar fight. I tried to get him to tell people that he had, but he wasn't up for it. Probably because he doesn't know what that means. Batman doesn't get in bar fights. He's become completely obsessed (to the extent that he's allowed) with the Lego Batman game for the Wii. It's pretty fun, you get to beat everything and everybody up and they break up into lego pieces. We've also been playing Mario Bros a bit. The boy thinks he likes to play, but it's actually almost impossible for him to do most of the things, so not really fun for anyone.
Work is going well. We had a class hamster, but its sibling which was in the another middle level class was (oops) impregnated over the Christmas break, so the 2 were taken home. We got another one, and it escaped. Bastard. I'm thinking of getting a guinea pig, they can't really climb out of stuff. Also they're bigger and I would think more resilient. Maybe. Anyway, now we have these 2 cages attached by a maze of tubes, and no frigging hamster. Sigh. I'm about to the point where I'm just going to decide that this is my classroom, and start getting rid of all the years of other peoples' crap that lives here. Old, old, old textbooks, resources that are completely out of date, pamphlets that have no place being handed out to anyone. Nothing useful, naturally, but a bunch of stuff on shelves and an entire closet, as well as an enclosed shelving unit, absolutely FULL of stuff. As much grief as the French classes give me, I do hope to be back here teaching it again next year, and after that. It's still a very new program, and the kids who are taking it mostly don't want to learn French, so that's tricky. It'll get better. It has gotten slightly better, the kids aren't generally so rude, more good-natured when they say "OH NO FRENCH!" as they pass me in the hall. Good times.
Anyway. The boy has swimming this evening, so I'm heading out so we can all be fed and ready to go! It may be a supper out night, who knows! I'll call the man and see what he thinks. I'm going to try to convince him that he should take the boy swimming, but since he takes him skating, I think that leaves me in charge of swimming. We have to go in the family change room, which I do understand, but we had been going in the women's, because he's just a wee lad. Last week we were complained about, mamas are uncomfortable with these boys in the room with their girls. Well, ladies, I'm sorry that we don't all have the luxury to have same-gendered children to bring swimming. The "family" change room has no benches, leaving you to put your things on the wet floor and fight a losing battle with your child to keep him from sitting on the wet floor, 2 change rooms which are never available, and a toilet which is too high for a child to use. How is any of that family-friendly? There is also a sign on the door that says "no strollers allowed". I do understand that, but it seems ironic, don't you think? Anyway, rest assured there will be a strongly-worded letter heading to the pool folks shortly.
Like I said though, I'm out!

Sunday, November 15

holy cow

this back to work stuff is really cutting into my blogging time. There's lots going on, teaching grad 7 and a little bit of grade 6, the drama that goes along with that, and trust me, there is drama. I was actually a little suprised to find out that there is drama at every grade level. I have duty outside with the primary (k, 1, 2) kids twice a week and it's mostly swing pushing and shoe tying and door opening so they can go pee, but there's a lot of "I wanted to play with Ashley and Carson told Ashley not to play with me because he said I was mean to him yesterday and but I WASN'T mean to him yesterday and but Ashley won't play with me!" and then tears and then me trying to explain that it's not really fun to play with people who don't want to play with you anyway, so why not find something else to do? The grad 6/7 drama is much more direct, girls being bitchy and boys being jerks and wanting to beat each other up type stuff. The usual, you know.

Today the little girl decided she knew how to get out of her crib. She does, sort of, but not really, so her escape was really a matter (I think, I wasn't in there at the time) of her getting a leg up and over and then falling over the rail. It was quite a thump, and I briefly thought, oh, she's thrown her water cup out again (she throws it really hard, and the first couple of times I heard it I thought she had actually jumped out of bed), but then I thought wait, she doesn't have her water cup, so I went in and sure enough, baby's on the floor. I scooped her up, but she was already pretty ticked off at having been put in bed in the first place (naps are for suckers, right?) so she took a few minutes to calm down. le sigh. The boy continues to be generally charming and wonderful, but every now and then I do get the distinct urge to throw him out a window. Or at the very least lock him or myself in a room so that I can escape the crying and whining. I know it's payback, I was a whiny child, but that makes it no less irritating. I'm waiting for the logic to kick in so that when I say things like "if you ____ then _____" and then he does that thing so I do my thing he doesn't completely lose it, or he might even be able to regularly make the decision NOT to do the thing in the first place...but as I've mentioned I'm a teacher, and I'm not seeing a lot of logic and / or planning in any of the students I teach, so I'm not really hopeful it'll happen any time soon. Joys of parenting, yo!

We're in the midst of the whole H1N1 thing, we have a couple of cases at school, so a significant portion of parents are keeping their kids home so they'll be safe. Which would make sense if I thought for a minute that they were also keeping them out of like, WalMart, convenience stores, Sobey's, and all the other places where their kids are about 158 times more likely to catch something than at school, where we're all cleaned and disinfected and looked after in a semi-responsible way. Anyway. It makes teaching easier, except that the 1/4 - 1/3 of my class that is missing won't have learned any of this stuff, which is a giant pain in the ass. We're having a flu shot clinic at school on Wednesday afternoon, and I'm interested to see what that's going to do to the school. I'm really quite annoyed that I can't get the shot myself. I'm also annoyed that like, police officers and PRISONERS are annoyed that they can't get the shot, when people like teachers and pharmacists who are far, FAR more exposed to dirt, germs, and viruses than the average joe, are not being put in any "priority group". Miss Baby girl has to go this weekend and get part 2 of her shot, but apparently Mr Little Man doesn't need a 2nd dose. Let's hope that the powers that be have made that decision based on real data, not just based on the fact that they need more vaccine and don't have enough to give our little people their required part 2.

We went to Bangor for Thanksgiving weekend and did the bulk of our Christmas shopping for the kids, which is excellent. We have a closet now, a large closet under the stairs, that very much resembles Santa's freaking workshop, but it's all good. We went down with friends of ours, and took their van, and every inch of non-seating space was absolutely filled with stuff on the drive back. It was like a game of tetris trying to get everything in there, and in such a way that any abrupt stops or turns would not lead to someone's untimely demise. Death by play kitchen. Tragic. I have to stop buying things though. Having started so early is great, but now I keep seeing things and being like, one more thing, one more little toy, oh, look at that! wouldn't the baby / the boy just LOVE that? le sigh.

As a sidebar, I'm looking for a good book to tell the boy the story of why we actually have Christmas in the first place. We've told him, but he loves to read books, so if we had a good book that would be even better.

I bought the new mario Wii game, and should really either be playing that or going to bed, so I'm going to go maybe flip a coin and decide.

Tuesday, September 1

back by popular demand

here you go folks, the fall tv premieres! I know, it's exciting, right? It's my list, so I'll keep everyithing on it, but I'm crossing shit out and bolding the good stuff.

also, some stuff has already premiered, like Mad Men, so this is just the stuff that's starting after today. apparently nothing for a whole week, gasp! I do apologize that the channels are US, you'll have to do a little digging on your own to find out exactly where they'll be.

Tuesday, Sept. 8

90210, 8 p.m. (CW)
Melrose Place, 9 p.m. (CW)
Sons of Anarchy, 10 p.m. (FX)


Wednesday, Sept. 9

America's Next Top Model, 8 p.m. (CW) (I don't like reality shows. Sorry.)
Glee, 9 p.m. (Fox)
So You Think You Can Dance, 8 p.m. (Fox)


Thursday, Sept. 10

Supernatural, 9 p.m. (CW)
The Vampire Diaries, 8 p.m. (CW)


Friday, Sept. 11

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, 8 p.m. (Fox)


Saturday, Sept. 12

America's Most Wanted, 9 p.m. (Fox)
Cops, 8 p.m. (Fox)


Monday, Sept. 14

Gossip Girl, 9 p.m. (CW)
The Jay Leno Show, 10 p.m. (NBC)
Lincoln Heights, 8 p.m. (ABC Family)
One Tree Hill, 8 p.m. (CW)


Tuesday, Sept. 15

The Biggest Loser, 8 p.m. (NBC)


Wednesday, Sept. 16

The Beautiful Life, 9 p.m. (CW)


Thursday, Sept. 17

Bones, 8 p.m. (Fox)
Community, 9:30 p.m. (NBC)
Fringe, 9 p.m. (Fox)

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, 10 p.m. (FX)
The Office, 9 p.m. (NBC)
Parks and Recreation, 8:30 p.m. (NBC)
Saturday Night Live: Weekend Update Thursday, 8 p.m. (NBC)
Survivor: Samoa, 8 p.m. (CBS)


Friday, Sept. 18

Crash, 10 p.m. (Starz)


Sunday, Sept. 20

Curb Your Enthusiasm, 9 p.m. (HBO)
Bored to Death, 9:30 p.m. (HBO)



Monday, Sept. 21

Accidentally on Purpose, 8:30 p.m. (CBS)
The Big Bang Theory, 9:30 p.m. (CBS)
Castle, 10 p.m. (ABC)
CSI: Miami, 10 p.m. (CBS) (for Jenn. xo)
Dancing With the Stars, 8 p.m. (ABC)
Heroes, 8 p.m. (NBC)
House, 8 p.m. (Fox)
How I Met Your Mother, 8 p.m. (CBS)
Two and a Half Men, 9 p.m. (CBS)


Tuesday, Sept. 22

The Forgotten, 10 p.m. (ABC)
The Good Wife, 10 p.m. (CBS)
NCIS, 8 p.m. (CBS)
NCIS: Los Angeles, 9 p.m. (CBS)


Wednesday, Sept. 23

Cougar Town, 9:30 p.m. (ABC) (seriously, this looks terrible)
Criminal Minds, 9 p.m. (CBS)
CSI: NY, 10 p.m. (CBS)
Eastwick, 10 p.m. (ABC)
Gary Unmarried, 8:30 p.m. (CBS)
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, 9 p.m. (NBC)
Mercy, 8 p.m. (NBC)
Modern Family, 9 p.m. (ABC)
The New Adventures of Old Christine, 8 p.m. (CBS)


Thursday, Sept. 24

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, 9 p.m. (CBS)
Flash Forward, 8 p.m. (ABC)

Grey's Anatomy, 9 p.m. (ABC)(though I may not watch without George...)
The Mentalist, 10 p.m. (CBS)


Friday, Sept. 25

Brothers, 8 p.m. (Fox)
Dollhouse, 9 p.m. (Fox)
Ghost Whisperer, 8 p.m. (CBS)
Law & Order, 8 p.m. (NBC)
Medium, 9 p.m. (CBS)
Numb3rs, 10 p.m. (CBS)
Smallville, 8 p.m. (CW)


Saturday, Sept. 26

Saturday Night Live, 11:30 p.m. (NBC)


Sunday, Sept. 27

60 Minutes, 7 p.m. (CBS)
The Amazing Race, 8 p.m. (CBS)
American Dad, 9:30 p.m. (Fox)
Brothers & Sisters, 10 p.m. (ABC)
Californication, 10 p.m. (HBO)
The Cleveland Show, 8:30 p.m. (Fox)
Cold Case, 10 p.m. (CBS)
Desperate Housewives, 9 p.m. (ABC)
Dexter, 9 p.m. (HBO)
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, 7 p.m. (ABC)
Family Guy, 9 p.m. (Fox)
The Simpsons, 8 p.m. (Fox)


Monday, Sept. 28

Lie to Me, 9 p.m. (Fox)
Trauma, 9 p.m. (NBC) (going to give this one a try, because I miss ER)


Tuesday, Sept. 29

Hell's Kitchen, 8 p.m. (Fox)
Shark Tank, 8 p.m. (ABC)


Wednesday, Sept. 30

Hank, 8 p.m. (ABC)
The Middle, 8:30 pm. (ABC)



Thursday, Oct. 1

Private Practice, 10 p.m. (ABC) (gotta see how they get Violet out of that sticky situation)


Friday, Oct. 2

'Til Death, 8:30 p.m. (Fox)
Stargate Universe, 9 p.m. (Syfy)


Sunday, Oct. 4

America's Funniest Home Videos, 7 p.m (ABC) (this is still on? really?)
Three Rivers, 9 p.m. (CBS)


Monday, Oct. 5

Rita Rocks, 7:30 p.m. (Lifetime)
Sherri, 7 p.m. (Lifetime)


Tuesday, Oct. 6

Scare Tactics, 9 p.m. (Syfy)


Friday, Oct. 9

Sanctuary, 10 p.m. (Syfy)
Ugly Betty, 8 p.m. (ABC)


Thursday, Oct. 15

30 Rock, 9:30 p.m. (NBC)


Friday, Oct. 16

Supernanny, 8 p.m. (ABC)


Friday, Oct. 23

Southland, 9 p.m. (NBC)
White Collar, 10 p.m. (USA)


Tuesday, Nov. 3

V, 8 p.m. (ABC)


Saturday, Nov. 7

Legend of the Seeker (syndication)
The Wanda Sykes Show, 11 p.m. (Fox)